European Silk Road
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Why a European Silk Road?
More than 2000 years ago, several routes for trade and cultural exchange opened up civilisations in Asia, Europe and Africa. As an important link in promoting the prosperity and development of the countries along the route, the Silk Road became a symbol of peace, exchange, migration and co-operation. Today, China is pursuing decidedly economic and power-political interests with its "New Silk Road". political interests. A European response to these developments has yet to materialise. On the contrary, in recent years In the face of Brexit, right-wing populism and the refugee crisis(es), the borders have even been tightened in recent years. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine Ukraine, the common European peace project was also attacked in its basic understanding and fundamental values.
What?
In the face of war and the climate crisis, the "European Silk Road" (www.european-silk-road.eu) is now a grand vision of a modern high-speed train network and green infrastructure project that will connect the industrial centres in the west with the populous populous areas in the east of the continent and strengthen the European project against overarching power projections. power projections.
Open projects
Building on the future vision of a "European Silk Road", the European Silk Road App (ESR App) the Callias Foundation Vienna is already a first digital, open-access platform for diverse artistic positions and creative forms of expression. forms of expression. Artists, collectives, cultural practitioners and initiators are invited to explore the idea and vision of a "European Silk Road". of a "European Silk Road" and to contribute their own very personal ideas and (critical) perspectives. to contribute. What would a "European" version of the route look like? Is there even a need for a European version or do we need to in view of Europe's colonial past, do we not need to question and shift the boundaries of what we understand by the term "Europe" much more strongly? question and shift them much more? Is it an ecological project? A unifying idea as a bottom-up civil society initiative initiative between North/South and East/West? Or a cultural participation project? The aim is to utilise this opportunity to identify and discover the hidden potential - the quiet, often still unheard voices - and to give them a chance to engage with this potential. to give them a chance to embark on a joint journey with this theme.
The initiative refers to a series of publications on issues relating to the construction of a European Silk Road, which began with the publication of the with the publication of Research Report No. 11 by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) in July 2018. (www.european-silk-road.eu)
